The relevance of school facilities in the quality of an education system is obvious. No one doubts that a technical school or a faculty with a good laboratory equipped with adequate means and a library made up of the latest scientific publications facilitates the better education of the students. However, the relationship between educational facilities and academic results is not often recognized in pre-university education.
Proper planning of present and future educational needs, as well as foresighted investment, ought to remove the motive for the frequent complaints received by the Defensor del Pueblo concerning the deficiency or insufficiency of the facilities in which students study. Sometimes because poor maintenance causes deterioration and safety concerns; other times because the centres are so saturated with students that they must use common spaces (such as a library or laboratory, to continue with the example) as classrooms in order to meet the demand for seats; also, because in many rapidly growing urban areas, administrations have failed to recognize the need for educational facilities far enough in advance and students have had to be sent to schools far away; or classes have to be carried out in provisional settings that do not meet the mandatory minimum requirements and which are used for much longer than is reasonable.
It is essential, then, to employ greater foresight and investment to equip and maintain adequate educational facilities that guarantee a successful learning environment, with precise means available for the development of the educational process in adequate conditions of security and accessibility.
